1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tape cassette suitable for use in a tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus such as a video tape recorder (VTR) and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional tape cassette, for example a VHS video tape cassette, comprises a housing having a mouth formed in its front edge portion, a pair of tape reels mounted in the housing, a magnetic tape wound on the tape reels and having a run extending between the wheels across the mouth, and a lid pivotally attached to the housing for movement between a closed position in which the lid covers an outer surface of the tape run and an open position. Such a cassette is intended to be used with a tape apparatus which includes cassette positioning devices for defining a loaded position of the cassette in the apparatus, and a lid opening member arranged to engage the lid upon movement of the cassette to the loaded position for moving the lid towards the open position thereof. The lid therefore helps to protect the tape, when the cassette is not in use, and automatically opens when the cassette is inserted into the apparatus.
In one known form of cassette of this type, the mouth formed in the front edge portion of the housing is also open at the bottom of the cassette housing, so that tape loading guides of the apparatus can be inserted behind the run of the magnetic tape extending across the mouth to withdraw the magnetic tape from the cassette. Thus, when the cassette is not in the apparatus, dust can enter the mouth and be attracted to the magnetic tape, even if the front lid is closed. Also, a user's finger may accidentally enter the mouth and touch the magnetic tape, with the result that a fingerprint may be left on the tape. Such dust and fingerprints may cause dropout during a recording or reproducing operation. In order to deal with this problem, it has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application JP-A-58128070 to provide an inner lid linked to the aforementioned (outer) lid to open and close therewith such the inner lid, when closed, covers an inner surface of the tape run which extends across the mouth. Thus, when the cassette is not in use, the magnetic tape is maintained in a sealed state between the outer and inner lids, thereby providing a highly reliable tape cassette which prevents damage to the tape due to dust or the like. When such a tape cassette is loaded into a VTR apparatus, the tape cassette is guided to a cassette loading position, and the lower edge of the outer lid is pushed up by the lid opening member of the apparatus to cause the outer lid to rotate upwardly, while the inner lid, upon such rotation, is moved upwardly and rearwardly so that both the lids are opened away from the magnetic tape to open the mouth and permit the magnetic tape to be withdrawn and loaded into the apparatus.
With the type cassette, disclosed in JP-A-58128070, in order to open the inner lid sufficiently to clear the magnetic tape, it is necessary to rotate the front lid over a larger angular range than that required for the original or old-fashioned type of cassette without an inner lid. It is therefore necessary to provide a lid opening member in the tape apparatus which is higher than that which is required in an apparatus for the old-fashioned type of cassette. It is therefore impossible to use the above-described tape cassette provided with the inner lid in a VTR which is designed merely to be used with the old-fashioned type of tape cassette without an inner lid.